Are you an employer spending lots of time puzzling over what you need to do to attract millennials? Concerned about retaining those young people once you hire them? Thinking you need to change your workplace culture?
If so, you’re not alone.
Many companies adjust their corporate culture to better appeal to the generation that’s expected to make up half the global workforce by 2020. A generation that’s said to be uncomfortable with rigid corporate structures. A generation that expects rapid progression and wants constant feedback.
If you’re desperate to recruit millennials, have you stopped to consider that how you’re looking at the situation is all wrong?
When companies talk about attracting and retaining millennials, they often take a surface approach. By that I mean, those companies treat millennials uniquely, but that’s not the way they should do it. There’s not one approach you should take with your overall workforce and a separate one to take for millennials.
Your company will enjoy more success if you don’t try to be all things to all millennials. Instead, aim to be an employer of choice where all good people want to work.
An organization will do fine provided it’s willing to get to the core of what it believes in and then holds true to those beliefs. Part of that exercise involves providing a sense of organizational clarity. Clarity makes people want to work for an organization.
Both millennials and those of other generations appreciate clarity. When companies don’t have clarity or are untrue about their purpose, employees become lost. They disconnect and become more likely to look elsewhere for jobs, regardless of their age group.
Be a place where people want to work
To attract all good employees, including millennials, and keep all of them around for the long haul, companies should:
- Be clear about their vision.
The most critical ingredient to achieving business success is having clarity.
Having clarity means an organization is clear about its purpose, vision, and the roles of those who carry out the purpose and vision, regardless of what generation the employee belongs to.
- Communicate often and well.
Successful companies explain to their employees and job candidates how things are done at the company and what is expected of them. Once people are told how things are, they can opt in or opt out. Usually they’ll opt in. If a company fails to be clear about their expectations and beliefs, people will opt out.
- Keep things positive.
Keeping an upbeat atmosphere is essential to a company’s culture and to keeping employees happy. If employers can find a way to encourage a positive outlook and attitude, employees from every generation will be more motivated and will perform their jobs better.
Companies can have practices that engage millennials, however, there must be a holistic view of who the company is and what the company culture is. Having that alone is a hook for millennials—and those of any generation. A company doesn’t have to change their company culture to bring millennials in.
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Today’s guest contributor is Brad Deutser, president of Deutser LLC, a consulting firm that advises leaders and organizations about achieving clarity, especially in times of transition, growth, or crisis.
Image credit before quote added: Pixabay
